"For coming late."
Grace stared at him as she just finished landing the hit. It felt good to hold someone reliable even though he had nothing to do with what happened to her, nor he had any respobsility towards her. Yet, she felt warmth surrounding her cold heart when she got to know that he came to her that day... even if he was late.
"Grace, I-"
"Did you bury me at least?" She asked. Considering it was during apocalypse, getting buried after death was considered a luxury. But the thought of her body being handled in any other way was terrifying. Even though she asked such a sensitive question, her voice and expression were devoid of any feelings.
Davian was silent for a moment and just stared at her before he shook his head in a negative response. "I didn’t." Before she could have started feeling sad over his answer, he added, "But I blew up that entire base with the two of us inside. I killed every single one of your murderers."
There was a killing edge in his voice and an undeniable anger in his eyes as he talked about killing her murderers. Grace was barely able to say anything and just stood there staring at him in shock.
He blew up the entire place? Himself too? She could hardly process that truth. Is it possible that he was in love with me back then too? As this thought appeared in her mind, things finally started making sense to her. No wonder his entire personality changed when they met each other again in this lifetime.
"So we both are back." She concluded and he nodded his head in agreement. While she was still trying to wrap her mind around everything that had happened, he surprised her by suddenly pulling her away from the wall and straight into his arms.
Grace was too stunned that she just stood there with her hands awkwardly stretched out slightly on her sides. As for Davian, he just hugged her so tightly as if he was afraid that she might slip away from his hold at any given moment.
"What are you doing?" She finally found her voice to ask that question, only to feel him tighten his arms around her and pull her closer into the hug if that was even possible in the first place.
"Let me hold you for a while. Just for a minute... No! Five minutes." He whispered against her shoulder as he buried his face into her hair.
Grace was silent for a second or two before she offered, "How about two minutes?"
"Three minutes." He bargained.
"Don’t be too greedy, Davian." She said and he immediately gave in. "Alright, two minutes then."
They stood like that for a while, before she finally realized just how weird her hands were looking in their current position. At first, she decided to just lower them on her sides, but then changed her mind at the last moment.
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her hands on his back before she started softly patting him. She wasn’t even sure if she was doing it right, and it felt even more awkward then her hands just stretched out on her sides. But then she felt him relaxing and it made her realize that she was probably doing the right thing.
She wasn’t sure for how long they stood like that in that silent space, him hugging her tightly while she patted his back to provide him with some comfort. It might have been just a minute, or more than five minutes, she had no idea because neither of them was counting the seconds as they passed by.
She allowed him to hold her for a little longer because she noticed just how much he had relaxed and also because it felt nice to be hugged. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she hugged someone, maybe when she was fourteen.
Even when she and Davian were acting like a fake couple, they never really hugged, at least not like he was hugging her at the moment. It was always a barely side hug back then, nothing like the warmth she felt from the current hug.
"I think the time limit of two minutes has come to an end." She finally spoke once she found out from 2025 that it had been nearly seven minutes since he pulled her into the hug.
Slowly, he pulled away from the hug but didn’t remove his hands from her waist immediately. He stood there with his gaze fixed on hers as he spoke, "I’m so happy that you are back. Everything is going to be better this time. We will make it better together."
A smile bloomed on her lips and Grace nodded her head. "Mmm. Let’s make sure that we will not repeat our past mistakes. That’s why you should hurry up and get your and your men’s apartments prepared for the unexpected situations that might arise in future."
"There’s no need for that." Davian surprised her with his reply. Before she could have asked the reason, he was already explaining, "I haven’t rented just the top floor, but also the other two apartments on the 20th floor. Now, we have all top three floors to ourselves. Instead of securing all the apartments, it’s better to secure the 20th floor. Besides, if worse came to worst, I can always find a shelter in your apartment."
"No, you can’t." Grace wasted no time in shattering his outrageous expectation. "We aren’t that close to share a house."
She watched as his gaze suddenly took over a sharp and intense look, something that she had always associated with the Davian King Parker she had known for her entire life. All of a sudden, he pulled her closer by the hand that was still resting on her waist, staring down into her eyes as he spoke, "Sooner or later, I’m going to make you mine, Grace Blackwood."
In response, Grace grabbed his collar and pulled his face closer as she whispered with a devilish smile, "Don’t mistake the balance between us, Mr. Parker. If it ever came to that, it will be me making you mine."
Without any hesitation, he replied, "I don’t mind at all."